Glens Falls Rotary Presents Dictionaries to Area 3rd Graders
For the past three years the Rotary Club of Glens Falls has participated in the Dictionary Project, which is an international project to promote literacy. The Rotary Club of Glens Falls, NY provides dictionaries to all the third graders in the Queensbury and Glen Falls schools. Rotarians were invited into the classrooms to teach the children how to use the dictionaries. There are approximately 500 local students who benefit from this project.
"Reading is the most important skill of all. It is the starting point for all the economic and social opportunities this world has to offer. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn." (quoted from DictionaryProject.org)
A dictionary is perhaps the most powerful reference tool that a child can use. It helps them with spelling, pronunciation, and definitions, as well as the development of reading, writing, and creative thinking skills. Students benefit from an increased self-reliance and resourcefulness inspired by the maxim “look it up”. Teachers benefit by knowing their students have consistent access to a tool for homework and in-class explorations.
The response from students, teachers, principals AND Rotary members was so overwhelmingly positive each year, the Glens Falls Club decided to make this an annual project.
The Glens Falls Rotary Club has about 140 members who volunteer their time and talent to further the Rotary motto, "Service Above Self." We hold several fundraisers each year such as selling fried bread dough at the Adirondack Balloon Festival in the fall and the LARAC Festival in the spring, as well as holding a Pure Water Walk each year. The proceeds from these fundraisers are then given back to our local community in service projects such as the Dictionary Project.
David Bogue and I are co-chairs of the Dictionary Project this year. David's Contact information is: 518-321-9922 Email: dbogue@adelphia.net. My Contact info is 518-793-4181 Email: kathleen.r.grasmeder@smithbarney.com.
Our Club president is Kevin O'Brien. His contact information is 518-793-5173. Email: kobrien@obrienagency.com. Our club website is http://www.glensfallsrotary.com.
A team of Rotary volunteers went to each of the following schools on the specified dates to distribute the dictionaries and teach the children how to use them:
Tuesday, September 29th - Abraham Wing and St Mary’s - St Alphonsus
Wednesday, September 30th - Glens Falls City Schools - Big Cross, Jackson Heights, Kensington & Sanford Street
Thursday, October 1st - Queensbury Elementary School
Thank you for your interest in this important community service project,
Kathy Grasmeder
Glens Falls Rotary Dictionary Project
Kevin O'Brien
